In an update posted through its official Twitter account, Verizon Wireless acknowledged that it was "aware of an issue with 4G LTE connections" and said that its "network engineers are working to resolve quickly."

Verizon's update came hours after reports began surfacing on tech news sites such as Engadget that 4G connectivity had been knocked offline nationwide. Engadget's Vlad Savov reported that when he tried to connect to the LTE network with an HTC Thunderbolt in San Francisco this morning, the phone could only latch onto Verizon's 3G EV-DO Rev. A network. Multiple LTE users also registered problems they were having over Twitter.

The outage marks the first major issue for Verizon's LTE network, which came on line in December. The carrier's network has so far proven to be the fastest wireless data network in the U.S., as initial tests showed data downloads frequently topping 10Mbps in most major markets, although these tests were run when the network just started and didn't have much congestion. A test released in March by PC World showed that Verizon's LTE laptop air cards provided average download speeds of 6.5Mbps and average upload speeds of 5Mbps.

LTE is essentially a bridge from 3G technologies such as HSPA and EV-DO Rev. A to the 4G IMT-Advanced technologies that the International Telecommunications Union has said will support speeds up to 100Mbps. Rival carrier AT&T said at this year's Consumer Electronics Show that it planned on launching its own LTE services in a limited number of markets this summer. So far AT&T has relied on upgrading its 3G HSPA network to HSPA+ technology to boost data speeds before making the switch to LTE.